Moses Lake is getting a major August health event — a two-day free dental clinic will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, August 8, and Sunday, August 10.
Hosted by the Moses Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church, the clinic provides basic dental care to those who don’t have access to regular dental services. The clinic will be closed on Saturdays to observe the Sabbath.
“Everyone is eager to see a dentist because they don’t normally get that opportunity,” said Linda Morgan, the event organizer. “Many dentists don’t accept Medicaid, and the application process is very difficult, so dental services are very popular.”
The dental clinic will provide free exams, X-rays, fillings, extractions and cleanings, all performed by volunteer professionals.
This year’s lineup is particularly strong, with 10 dental students and three faculty members from the University of Washington School of Dentistry joining in, as well as dental hygienists and assistants from schools in the Tri-Cities area, setting a record for the number of participants in the past years.
The service is on a first-come, first-served basis, and patients are screened before receiving treatment to check for health problems that may affect the safety of treatment, such as high blood pressure and bleeding tendency.
In addition to dental services, free massage and haircut services will be provided on site, and the church will prepare a vegetarian lunch for guests. All dental equipment and supplies required for the clinic are provided by Caring Hands Global, headquartered in Oregon.
This Seventh-day Adventist organization sets up a mobile dental clinic in the northwest of the United States every year, and this event will also be held in the gymnasium of Crestview Christian School, which is affiliated with the church.
“The whole process is exciting,” Morgan said. “We started setting up on Wednesday night and prepared all day Thursday.”
Caring Hands Global was founded in 1994 by a group of mission-driven dentists. Morgan first came into contact with the organization in 2017 and was inspired to start holding local free dental clinics.
“At a missions conference, I heard how they equipped all the equipment to form a mobile dental service team. I thought, we can do it too.”
Although Caring Hands Global initially provided free services to the local area, as time went by and the organizational structure was adjusted, the organizer now has to bear the costs of equipment, insurance, etc.
Morgan said that the church borne most of the costs and also received some grant support. She welcomes anyone willing to donate to contact the church to help those in need together.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one-third of American adults have not visited a dentist in the past year; in Washington State, nearly 27% of adults do not have dental insurance. Even if they have insurance, many people’s coverage is not enough to cover the full cost of treatment.
As a midwife, Morgan knows the value of medical services. She has participated in overseas missions many times and was deeply inspired. “I love to help others and I am passionate about missions. At that meeting, I thought, ‘We can really do this.’ And God really let me do it.”